Ohmae (1995)

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Insider

In order to succeed in a foreign market, a firm needs to become an "insider", building up networks and channels, so that they learn as much as possible about the local market. A firm just cannot push its product onto any market without adapting its approach and doing extensive research into that market.

The more critical these factors become, the better it is to team up with a local partner in a joint venture, as they will already have the "insider" functions in place.

"A global product means building the capability to understand and respond to customer needs and business system requirements in each critical market"

"Head quarters" mentality is when firms trying to become "insiders" interfere too much in their foreign subsidiaries' movements, by applying home market rules, instead of maintaining independence of the foreign-based firms. This is particularly hazardous when things are going wrong in foreign subsidiaries - HQ tries to implement solutions, but based on systems that work only in the home market.